For the biggest evaluation day of spring practice, the Ohio State coach admitted Saturday to charges of manipulation. With a scoring system based on things like sacks, first downs and turnovers, and with drives starting at varying points on the field, Tressel can sometimes encourage the battle between the team's offense and defense to come down to a final possession.

"You want the game to be close," senior defensive lineman Cameron Heyward said. "Tress always tries to make it come down to a game-tying play. He couldn't do it this year. Hopefully, it was just us playing good."

"Us" meant the defense, which dominated in a 78-24 win at Ohio Stadium with 10 sacks, five turnovers and a blocked field goal. It was the most lopsided score Tressel could remember, and everyone was hoping it was a sign of the defense's excellence, not an indication of offensive problems. For example, the previous nine jersey scrimmages, one each spring and fall, no side had won by more than 20.

"It bothers us," senior guard Justin Boren said of the offense's struggles. "I don't know what happened, but we're a lot better than that. We've been getting better every day this spring, but we might have taken a couple steps back today. When it's a bad day, it's a bad day. We couldn't do anything right."

With a week left in spring practice, and the spring game coming next Saturday, here are 10 points to take from Saturday.

1. Wearing a black jersey that meant he couldn't be tackled, and which nullified any chance to run, quarterback Terrelle Pryor looked less confident and consistent than he has during practice. By unofficial stats, Pryor was 5-of-15 for 45 yards on a windy day, with four of the completions checkdowns to running backs.

Asked how you evaluate Pryor when he's not full-go in a scrimmage, Tressel said, "You don't," so don't get caught up in the numbers. However, he still didn't look quite like the guy he'd been showing the past two weeks, and that's not all because of the jersey.

"It can have a little something to do with it," senior receiver Dane Sanzenbacher said, "but I don't think it affects the execution."

2. That said, Taurian Washington dropped a corner route that Pryor put on his hands. DeVier Posey caught a 33-yard pass in the endzone before Donnie Evege reached in and knocked the ball out, as Posey begged the official for a pass interference call because of earlier contact.

3. The offense was stunned by what happened. In everyday scrimmage situations, with the first-team defense against the first-team offense, linebacker Ross Homan said the offense has been "unbelievably great" and "beating up on us."

"They were kicking our butts for the past two weeks," Heyward said, "but we finally stepped up and made some big plays."

"It's really strange, to be honest," Sanzenbacher said. "We've played pretty well through the spring and our offensive line has been very good in pass protection. It's interesting how things came out, but the only thing you can do is make sure it doesn't happen again."

4. If Heyward and Homan are the first two stars of the defense, who might be the next best defender? It could be sophomore defensive lineman John Simon, a guy everyone is talking about. He had two sacks, knocked down a pass and fell on a fumble in the end zone, after a bad shotgun snap between Mike Brewster and Pryor, for the scrimmage's only touchdown.

"I think I saw some flashes out there," Tressel said. "I think John Simon is going to be a very good player."

5. The entire defensive line was impressive, but pass protection was a problem. The first team gave up five sacks in 37 plays, the second team had three in 41 plays and third team had two in 39 plays. Both Boren and senior guard Bryant Browning said it was both mental and physical, missed assignments and guys getting beat. On the second and third teams, it's obvious that the defensive line is ahead of the offensive line.

6. The young defensive linemen might provide better immediate depth than initially thought. Defensive end Solomom Thomas, a scrimmage star last season, had two sacks on the second team and also forced an interception by safety C.J. Barnett when he hit Joe Bauserman as he was throwing. Garfield Heights' Melvin Fellows, coming off a redshirt season, had two sacks as a defensive end with the third team.

"Those two guys, it was like they were trading sacks," linebacker Brian Rolle said.

Add in Garrett Goebel, Keith Wells and Adam Bellamy, and the Buckeyes should be able to go eight deep again up front.

"Those guys are going to have a role on this team," Rolle said. "They aren't as athletic as someone like Thaddeus Gibson, but they run hard and play hard."

7. Rolle made a great play on a blitz, going down on a cut block by Dan Herron and then getting back up to get the touch sack on Pryor.

"In the locker room, I always say if I get cut, I'm fighting," Rolle said with a smile. "I knew he was going to cut me when I got there. But our coaches always tell us, if you get cut, get up. And I did a good job of getting off the block and getting the sack."

After redshirting with a hamstring injury last season, Berry, though raw, showed off some shiftiness and explosiveness that caught Tressel's eye. Unofficially, he had 78 yards on 17 carries, lost a fumble after getting stripped by linebacker Dorian Bell and turned his ankle late in the scrimmage.

9. Linebacker/defensive end Jonathan Newsome, making up for lost time, was very active on the third team in his second day back after missing the start of spring for academic reasons. He leapt high to knock down a pass at the line and also recovered two fumbles off bad center-quarterback exchanges.

"I think any time you lose some privileges, it helps you understand how important those privileges are," Tressel said. "He's a guy that I think has some ability."

10. Overall, the Buckeyes fumbled six times on those exchanges, though only once with the No. 1 offense. It was the first thing Tressel mentioned, though. It starts with the basics.

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